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Sunday, 19 July 2015

A 1940s Steerhide Motorcycle Jacket

The husband-to-be's vintage clothing obsession started long before I even knew what 'vintage' was. Back in 1994, he visited a thrift store in Big Bear Lake, California, and bought this amazing leather jacket for $5. The zip was missing, but the leather was in fairly good condition and the lining was intact. He had to buy a vintage suitcase to transport the jacket, along with lots of shirts and t-shirts, back to Wales. After replacing the zip for £18, the jacket gave a good 20 years of wear but more recently had started to look a bit shabby. Leather dries out as it ages, and it can become brittle and cracked, with splits and tears appearing. Thankfully, this jacket was another vintage item that we were able to rescue thanks to some good leathercare products.

1940s motorcycle jacket: Thrifted, California

Cap: Christy's, via car boot sale

The only other alteration that was done to the jacket was to snip the elastic at the sides, something that the husband-to-be now regrets and will look at returning to the original state.

Over the years we've done a lot of research on the jacket, and although it's a style that was popular for quite a few decades, we believe this is a 1940s' version of a motorcycle jacket. There's a really fantastic website that has many pictures of vintage coats and jackets, Vintage-Haberdashers, that I recommend as a resource.

What a fantastic jacket and I'm so glad you were able to restore it to its former glory. Cheap hair conditioner is also brilliant for bringing vintage leather back to life - rub it with with a soft cloth, leave overnight and buff it up in the morning. Jon's got an ancient leather trench coat bought as vintage from Brum's Rag Market back from his punk days in the early 1980s, full off tears and fag burns but still supple. xxx

It's fun to have a partner who is just as into vintage as you are. Your dude made a great find, and you guys did an excellent job keeping it going. My boyfriend has some awesome leather jackets that were his dads in the 70s, they're so cool looking.